"Yes, Draco." sighed Harry as he and his son, James, walked down the streets of Montreal, Canada. It was Christmas Eve and, just like every other year, Draco and Harry were hosting a large get together with all their friends and their families. And just like always, Draco waited until the very last minute to send Harry to the store to pick up the food so Draco could cook it. "We're almost at the store. So could we please hang up so I can actually shop?" Harry asked into the cell phone, his husband on the other line.
"Are you sure you can handle it?" asked Draco, his voice slightly worried.
Harry let out a soft laugh, "I'm sure I can handle it, Dray. This only happens every year."
"But you know how picky I can be with my ingredients sometimes." Draco fretted, "What if you get the wrong one of something?"
Harry smirked at his husband's antics, this happened every time Harry went to the store to buy something, whether it was food, toys for the kids, or stuff for their pets. Draco always wanted to make sure that Harry got exactly what he had asked for, which usually meant a phone call. Harry normally managed to convince Draco that he could handle it, but there was the rare occasion where the blond just wouldn't budge.
"Then I'll just deal with you yelling at me when I get home." replied Harry in response to Draco's earlier question, "And for God's sake, Draco. You gave me an exact list of what you wanted, with name brands written down for half the stuff! I think I'll be fine."
"Okay." Draco complied reluctantly, "But if you get home and my ingredients aren't up to standards, I won't hesitate to hex you."
"I love you too." Harry said with a smile, he knew Draco wasn't serious about his threat.
After the war they had both taken a bit of a break from magic and the wizarding world itself, as it brought back too many horrible memories. They had both unknowingly left Britain and settled down in Montreal, where they met about a year after the war. And even now, fifteen years later, neither used magic all too often. They lived as muggles for the most part, both with muggle careers (Harry was a high school English teacher and Draco was a pediatrician). Their only connection to the wizarding world was Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother, who currently lived in France.
"Make sure to call me when you're heading home." said Draco.
"Okay, see you in an hour or so." replied Harry as he entered the grocery store, "I love you."
"I love you too."
Harry then hung up his phone and slid it into his coat pocket, his other hand still holding onto James' small hand. He grabbed a cart with his free hand and started to push it further into the store. "Ready, buddy?" Harry asked his son, "Your dad decided to trust us with the shopping this year.
The six year old boy smiled up at his dad and asked, "Because daddy isn't bossing you around can we get ice cream?"
"We'll see, buddy." replied Harry with a smile, "I think your dad had some sort of cake planned for desert, but I don't think he'd mind some ice cream to go with it." he said as the two started walking around the store.
Forty-five, or so, minutes later they had collected every item off of Draco's list and were on their way to go pick out some ice cream when Harry saw someone he thought he knew out of the corner of his eye. It can't be, Harry told himself with a slight shake of his head, what are the chances? But as he got a bit closer, Harry couldn't deny what he saw, he'd recognize that bushy brown hair and fiery red hair anywhere.
Not wanting to get caught after disappearing off the face of the Earth for fifteen years, Harry started to veer into a random aisle, hoping that it would go unnoticed by both James and his former friends. Though unfortunately for Harry, James began to tug on his sleeve, "But papa! The ice cream's that way!" whined James while pointing at the dairy section, but to get there Harry would need to walk right past Ron and Hermione, which he did not want to do.
"I know, James." said Harry quietly, "But I think I forgot something down this way. I promise we'll get your ice cream though."
Harry was almost completely in the aisle, and hopefully out of the danger zone, when he heard a voice that was unmistakably Hermione call out, "Harry!"
The black haired man immediately tensed up at the sound of his name, and cautiously turned around. Sure enough, Ron and Hermione were right there and embraced him in a large hug. "Hey." Harry greeted warily once released from the hug.
"Long time no see." said Ron with a smile, "Where you been mate?"
"Oh, you know…" replied Harry with a vague wave of his hand, as if that completely explained his fifteen year disappearance. Hermione opened her mouth, no doubt to ask more about what Harry had been doing, when Harry interrupted her, "What are you guys doing in Montreal?"
"Decided to go on holiday for Christmas this year." explained Ron, "Take a bit of a break from the Burrow, you know how mum can be." he added fondly.
Harry nodded with a small smile, "Well that's nice." he said lightly.
"What about you?" asked Hermione, "What are you doing here?"
"Buying groceries." Harry responded honestly while motioning to his cart load of food.
"I meant." Hermione emphasized, "What are you doing in Montreal?"
"Oh, that. Um, I live here now." Harry explained vaguely, not wanting to dig into his personal life.
Ron's eyes widened at Harry's statement, "You do?"
"Uh, yeah." Harry said lamely, "Have for about fourteen years."
"But you left Britain fifteen years ago." stated Hermione with a slight furrow in her eyebrows.
"Oh, well-" Harry started to explain before getting cut off by Ron.
"Why did you leave Britain?" the redhead asked, "The letter you left didn't give too much detail."
'The letter' was a short note Harry had written before leaving Britain, explaining that he would be leaving Britain and was unsure when, or if, he'd return. It was short, sweet, and to the point, Harry was never one for lengthy letters. But Harry figured he at least owed them an explanation for his sudden disappearance.
"After the war everything was different. I wanted a chance to find myself, the real me. Who I would have been without Voldemort. So I did a bit of traveling before finally settling down here in Montreal. At first it was just to get away from it all, and I meant to get back in touch with you guys, but life just got in the way." Harry explained sheepishly, "At first I was constantly moving around, a different country every couple of weeks. Then there was everything going on with my schooling and finding a job. Then I found the love of my life, and we got married and had the kids. So, by the time I finally had my life together, I just figured you guys wouldn't care anymore." he finished lamely.
"Harry," said Hermione in a sweet yet stern voice, "We were best friends for seven years, and we both still care a lot about you. Don't you dare ever think that we wouldn't care about you."
"Yeah, mate." agreed Ron as he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, "You're like a brother to us."
"Thanks." Harry replied sincerely, "We should catch up sometime."
"How about tonight?" suggested Hermione.
"No, no, no." said Harry hastily with slight panic, "Not tonight, definitely not tonight."
Ron cocked a brow at Harry's sudden change in demeanor, "Why not?"
"It's just that we've got people coming over tonight," the black haired man explained, "And it'll probably be pretty crowded with you four there as well." he said as he gestured to Ron, Hermione, and their two kids, a son and a daughter.
"Yeah." agreed James from beside Harry, "Grammy Cissa's coming all the way from Fa-fwa-Fwance!" the six year old faltered a bit at the end, but still held his enthusiasm over seeing his grandmother.
Harry smiled down at his son and ruffled the boy's dark brown hair, "That's right, James, Grammy Cissa is coming over. She's going to be staying with us for a few days, right?"
"Yeah!"
"France?" asked Ron with a small smirk, "Married some pretty french woman, now did you mate?"
"Oh, no- that's not-"
The taller man let out a laugh, "I mean don't blame you. Always thought that Fleur was pretty attractive myself."
"Ronald!" admonished Hermione while elbowing her husband in the ribs, "Sorry, Harry. What Ron meant to say was: we really don't mind. In fact, we'd love to come over tonight, assuming your wife is alright with it?"
Harry once again opened his mouth to object that no, he was not married to some beautiful french woman, but once again was interrupted by Ron, "You should call her, mate."
"Okay." said Harry with a defeated sigh, knowing his former friends wouldn't budge unless Harry called his supposed wife. "Give me a moment."
He then turned around and grabbed his phone out of his coat pocket and dialed Draco's number, then pressed the phone to his ear. "Hey, love." came Draco's voice through the phone, "On your way home yet?"
"Um, no." said Harry anxiously, "We actually ran into a bit of a problem."
"Problem? What kind of problem?" Draco asked in a demanding tone.
"We ran into a couple of people at the store."
"What people?" Draco's tone had turned from demanding to confused, "Some of your students?"
"No, no." replied Harry warily, "Ron and Hermione were there."
"Ron and Hermione?" asked Draco, "As in the Ron and Hermione?"
Harry snorted in amusement, "Yes, as in the Ron and Hermione." the two aforementioned people could also be heard expressing their amusement, with Ron snorting as well and Hermione giggling.
"Did you talk to them?"
"Uh, yeah." Harry responded awkwardly, "They wanted to come over for dinner tonight actually, and do some catching up."
"Harry, my mother and all of our friends are coming over tonight as well." the blond said in a serious tone.
"Yeah, that's what I had tried saying." Harry with slight exasperation, "But they had insisted I call you to check."
"Me?"
"Well, not you you." laughed the black haired man, "They had suggested I call my 'wife.'" he put the word 'wife' in air quotes.
"Wife?" asked Draco with a snort, "Really, Potter?"
"Oh shut it! You can yell at me later."
The two broke out into a small fit of giggles, yelling or fighting wasn't exactly their thing anymore. They had both grown past their former rivalry, nowadays it was mostly small squabbles and friendly banter. "You really want to invite them over?" Draco asked once they were done giggling.
"They seem pretty insistent on it." Harry replied honestly.
"Fine, tell them they can stop by later." said Draco with slight fondness, "But make sure they at least know I'm your husband, not your wife."
"Will do." Harry smiled, "I love you."
"I love you too." drawled Draco lovingly before hanging up the phone.
Harry then slid his phone back into his coat back and turned around, bracing himself. His two former friends were standing there gazing at him expectantly, "I take it that's a yes?" asked Ron, his left eyebrows raised slightly.
Harry nodded in response as Hermione smiled brightly, "Oh, this is so exciting!" she practically squealed, "I can't wait to meet your wife and your other kids!"
"Oh, um, about that…" Harry started hurriedly, "I actually don't have a wife."
"What do you mean, mate? You said you were married, and you have a ring." said Ron as he gestured towards Harry's left hand.
"I am married." confirmed Harry, "But, I don't have a wife. I have a husband."
He anxiously meets his former friends' gazes, unsure of their reaction. Same-sex relationships weren't entirely uncommon, and were socially accepted for the most part. "Oh." was Ron's first thought, "Well, that's alright too. We can't wait to meet your husband then." he said awkwardly, but the sincerity could be heard in his voice.
"Just give us your floo address and we'll stop by around dinner." said Hermione.
"Actually, we don't have a floo address." explained Harry, his nervous spiking yet again.
Ron gave him a slightly confused look, as if the idea of not having floo address was utterly baffling, but shrugged it off, "Alright, then we'll just apparate there. We can side-along the kids."
"You can't apparate either." Harry said, his voice raising slightly in pitch.
"Why not?" asked Hermione.
"We live in a muggle apartment, and most of our friends are muggles too." he said stiffly.
The two former Gryffindors gave him perplexed looks, but didn't dwell on it long before Hermione suggested they just help Harry finish his shopping, then follow him home. Harry tried multiple times to tell them it's fine, and that they can just stop by later, just as long as they used muggle transport to get there. But neither Ron or Hermione would budge, so in the end Harry begrudgingly agreed. Harry then finished his shopping, which was just the ice cream for James (he picked out chocolate fudge brownie), and checked out. Then start on his walk back to the apartment, Ron, Hermione, and their kids trailing behind.
When he arrived back home Draco immediately called out from the kitchen, "Harry, thank God! Just bring the groceries in here and I'll start on the food, you can get the kids ready. The twins are upstairs taking a nap. And mother just got in, so she should be here shortly." the blond then exited the kitchen, his apron already on, but stopped at the sight of Ron and Hermione. "Weasley, Granger." he greeted stiffly.
"Harry," Ron said warningly, "What's Malfoy doing in your apartment?"
"Ron, Hermione. I would like you to meet my husband, Draco Malfoy-Potter." said Harry apprehensively.
"Malfoy?" asked Ron, his eyes almost comically large "Really, Harry? You married Malfoy?"
"He's changed, Ron." Harry replied slowly, "He apologized for the way he acted when we were younger, and I forgave him. We both moved on from the past."
"Bu-but, he's Malfoy!" said Ron, a little louder than necessary.
Hermione could be heard saying, "Ron." in a warning tone beside her husband.
But before either Hermione or Harry could intervene Draco drawled with a smirk, "Actually, it's Malfoy-Potter now."
"Not helping, Draco." grit out Harry.
Draco smiled at Harry and shook his head playfully before sobering up and turning to Ron and Hermione, "Look, I'm sorry for the way I treated you in our youth. I was a stupid child who didn't know any better, but I've changed since then. And I want to make it up to you guys. I know I don't deserve to be forgiven, nor do I expect it, but I wanted to apologize either way."
"Weasley," said Draco, his gaze set on Ron, "I'm sorry for making fun of your family for your lack of wealth, and that I insisted you were blood traitors for associating with muggles and muggleborns"
"And Granger," he said, directing his attention towards Hermione, "I'm sorry for making fun of your appearance and calling you that awful derogatory slur. I really don't think that way anymore."
"Apology accepted." said Hermione, a small smile on her lips.
Ron took a moment before letting out a sigh, "Alright, fine. I accept your apology." he paused for a second and eyed Draco, "But how do we really know you don't think like that anymore?"
"Ronald!" shouted Hermione, yet again elbowing her husband in the ribs.
"I suppose you don't know." said Draco with a shrug. Ron's face was triumphant for half a moment, but Draco continued on, "But seeing as all three of my children are half muggle, I think it's a pretty safe bet that I don't anymore." he said with a smirk.
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Surrogacy." replied Harry.
"Surrogacy?" Ron asked slowly.
"Yeah, surrogacy." responded Draco, "A couple of our muggle friends offered to be surrogates for us if we ever wanted kids, so when we did want kids we took them up on the offer. Our friend Maya carried James, with the use of Harry's sperm. And our friend Violet carried the twins, Scorpius and Lily, with the use of my sperm." the blond explained, "Pretty simple, really."
"Wait." said Ron, his eyebrows furrowed, "So you two had sex with a couple of your friends, just so they could get pregnant and have your kids?"
"Ronald!" shouted Hermione yet again, her frustration at Ron growing as she motioned to the kids who were standing a few yards away from the adults. "There is such a thing as artificial insemination. Don't you know anything?" she scoffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
After that the atmosphere in the apartment had calmed down. Draco went into the kitchen to get a start on food, grabbing the bags from Harry, with Hermione trailing behind, insisting on helping. While Harry and Ron went up the stairs to get James, Lily, and Scorpius ready for their guests.
It was a long day filled with tons of laughter and catching up between friends both old and new, and Harry enjoyed it immensely. He made a promise to keep in touch with Ron and Hermione when they returned to Britain, and made sure to invite them to all of their future family gatherings. All in all, it was a pretty great day. One could say, the perfect Christmas gift.